I saw "The Sounds" at The Grog Shop, a week and a half ago now, as I previously mentioned. I must say I was taken aback by just how rough they sounded live, in a more traditional punk fashion. High energy and fast at the expense of polish. I think the nature of The Grog Shop, with that dark hole in the wall kind of feel, contributed to it. They were not quite what I had expected after listening to their albums and watching their videos, but I am still awaiting the release of their new album, "Crossing the Rubicon" on June 2nd with baited breath. Today's song, "No One Sleeps When I'm Awake", is the first single off the album which I got to hear live too!

The concert was a bit rough for me because after traveling all day to get to Cleveland and then standing in line for a couple hours to get into the venue, and then watching the opening band, "Hey Champ" (who impressed me), I was beat. I should've had coffee instead of beers because I just could not match the energy of the 19 year-olds around me at half past midnight when they started playing. Half the women in the audience seemed to have bleach blond hair to match Maja Ivarsson's and half the guys had on super tight jeans, a fashion trend that I had not really noticed until that night. I like my loose grunge-like "I just rolled out of bed" clothing, so I think I'm going to skip on the tight pants. I did have on my black converse though, straight laced of course (click for instructive image). Black converse are always cool.

My Straight Laces Black Converse Low Tops - Always Cool

Click here for more info on The Sounds – Crossing the Rubicon – "No One Sleeps When I'm Awake".

The MP3 for the single may be purchased before June 2nd here…

The Sounds - No One Sleeps When I'm Awake (Single)